Chapter 43
A leisurely weekend morning.
“Luca, this soup is really tasty today.”
“Eat lots.”
Luca smiled, filling Sigrin’s bowl with soup.
“Uh, um… Can I have a bit more?”
“…Sure, give me your bowl.”
“More.”
“…”
Luca, scooping soup, suddenly trembled and slammed the ladle down.
“Hey!!! You guys, figure it out yourselves!! Am I your maid?? Your maid??”
“Eek!”
This was seriously wrong.
Luca’s brow twitched.
Since Sigrin often skipped breakfast, Luca started making extra when preparing his own.
She ate so eagerly, like a squirrel, that he felt proud and kept doing it daily. The problem started there.
Apple kept eyeing Sigrin’s food, so Luca began preparing for her too, mindful of Sigrin’s feelings.
When Bilha joined and started stealing Sigrin’s food, Luca naturally began cooking for him as well.
Cooking alone was already unfair, but the most unfair part…
“I gave up nice facilities to live here and save money, but because of you guys, my food budget is as high as town fees!”
Luca snatched Bilha and Apple’s bowls.
“No more food for you parasites.”
“No, no, please!!”
“…”
“Sigrin, you can eat. …No ulterior motives, just payment for not collecting tribute.”
Apple and Bilha, now bowl-less, stared at Sigrin eating her soup.
Feeling soft, Sigrin tried to feed Apple a spoonful.
“Tch.”
“…Okay. Apple, don’t look. Bilha too…”
Sigrin pulled Bilha’s mask over his eyes and covered Apple’s.
“Ugh, you guys are too much.”
Watching them, Luca finally returned Apple and Bilha’s bowls.
“Don’t crawl to the table next meal. Or pay up. Food and labor—20 Arum.”
“Expensive…! That’s restaurant prices!”
“Isn’t it tasty enough? Inn food is pricier anyway.”
Sigrin looked at Luca, lost in thought. She’d overlooked something, too used to being cared for.
“Now that I think about it, I’ve been inconsiderate. All this time, it’s been your money.”
“…Nah. The ingredients come from the garden, so it’s not that much. The issue is how fast we’re going through them now. I’ve harvested almost everything.”
Labor’s still money, so it’s personal expense.
“I’ll manage the garden from now on. Watering, harvesting, buying and planting seeds… that stuff.”
“Huh…? I’d appreciate it, but…”
Luca was flustered when Sigrin offered to take over her tasks.
She always felt she had to do something.
“And haven’t we been using the firewood Luca chopped for the stove?”
“True.”
“Let Bilha handle that. He’s strong. Agree, Bilha?”
“Agree.”
“Apple, can we ask you to do dishes and burn trash?”
“Sure… Okay!”
They’d always shared chores, but when Luca lived here alone, he did most of them, so he often took on more when things got vague.
Better to clearly divide roles.
“Luca, can we count on you for breakfast? I’m sorry for only noticing now…”
Whoosh!
Luca, dropping the ladle, hugged Sigrin tightly.
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Luca hurriedly let go.
He always teased her for acting like a princess, but this time, he was touched by her princess-like grace.
“No need to be sorry. Thanks for noticing.”
Um…
Sigrin smiled awkwardly.
It wasn’t worth such thanks, but his reaction made her feel even guiltier.
✦ ✦ ✦
Weekends meant no school, so most time was spent in the Lemaos Library.
This weekend was busier than usual due to the raid class credit submission deadline.
“Princess, got any untouched beast corpses? Let’s process them together.”
“Sounds good. Want to join, Apple?”
“Yup!”
The four spread newspapers on the first floor and began processing beast corpses.
Sigrin’s hair kept falling, so she tied it up tightly.
“Hey, Sigrin. Is this how you do it?”
“Rub some oil on your hands. It’ll separate better.”
“Oh~”
“Miss, look at what I did.”
“Apple… How did you perfectly extract just the Wisp’s excretory organ? That’s talent.”
“Huh?”
Everyone showed Sigrin their processed beast parts, and Bilha sliced his like sashimi to show her.
“…?”
“…?”
While they focused, it got noisy outside.
“Apple, can you check if someone’s out there?”
“Sure!”
Apple stood, opened the front door, then closed it, pale, and ran back to Sigrin.
“Uh, Miss… You need to come outside.”
“Huh?”
“There’s a crowd of our classmates outside the Lemaos Library. With carts.”
Sigrin stopped working, stood, and opened the front door.
“Lady Sigrin! We’ve brought tribute and offerings!! Pity us, teetering on the edge of failure!!”
As Sigrin appeared, students began bowing frantically.
Sigrin, arms crossed, froze.
✦ ✦ ✦
“What’s all this commotion on a weekend?”
“We can’t get over 300 credits with just our kills. But you’re the top in our year for item processing.”
“So you want me to do all this?”
Sigrin gestured at the carts piled with beasts.
“O-Of course, we brought money!”
The students offered a hefty sum.
“Does this look like a homework service?”
“Sorry… Then, Luca, can you…?”
Luca was already counting the money.
“Double it, and I’ll do it.”
“…Double? Two-point-five!”
“Two-point-seven.”
Oh, right. Luca was here.
Luca never turned down such jobs. What a headache.
If Luca took the job, Sigrin would inevitably get roped in.
Then she recalled this morning.
[I gave up nice facilities to live here and save money, but because of you guys, my food budget is as high as town fees!]
…It was time to start collecting guild funds.
Four people lived in the library. That’s enough to need operating costs. Luca had been generous, so there’d been no issues until now.
With guild funds, she could hang out with them less guiltily.
Sigrin always felt bad when Apple or Luca hesitated whenever she bought something.
“…Two-point-eight.”
“Two-point-five!!”
“Luca is my subordinate, so he can’t act without my permission.”
As negotiations continued, Sigrin stepped in.
“Huh? Really?”
Luca tilted his head, as if hearing this for the first time.
“You can commission Luca, but there’s a condition. We charge double the retail price for processed parts.”
“…!!”
The students, who’d eagerly offered money, hesitated.
“But I’ll join the processing, and if you provide unused parts or corpses, I’ll offer a small discount.”
“…!!”